G8 Countries: Development Aid

The Earl of Sandwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress they are making alongside other G8 countries towards the target of providing 0.2 per cent of gross national income assistance to the least developed countries.

Baroness Amos: The UN aid target for least developed countries is 0.15 per cent of gross national income. The latest year for which data are available is 2002—details are given in the following table:
	Net official development assistance (ODA) from G8 countries to least developed countries 1 .
	
		
			  2002 
			 Donor $m per cent of GNI 
			 Canada 349 0.05 
			 France 1,626 0.11 
			 Germany 1,332 0.07 
			 Italy 1,045 0.09 
			 Japan 1,813 0.04 
			 Russia not a DAC donor 
			 UK 1,153 0.07 
			 US 3,012 0.03 
			 Total DAC 15,137 0.06 
		
	
	Source:
	Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
	1 Including imputed multilateral flows, i.e. making allowance for contributions through multilateral organisations, calculated using the geographical distribution of multilateral disbursements for the year of reference.

Civil Partnership: Public Service Pensions

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What would be the total annual financial cost if the Civil Partnership Bill were amended so as to backdate to 1988 (the date applicable to surviving widowers) survivor pension benefits for civil partners in public service schemes; and what is the basis of each element in that calculation; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 19 May (WA 90), what is their estimate of the financial cost of providing survivor pensions in public service pension schemes if the propensity of opposite sex couples to marry continues at current levels for the next five years; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 19 May (WA 90), what are the "normal actuarial assumptions" upon which the Government Actuary's Department bases its estimate of the impact of making survivor pension benefits for civil partners apply to all the past service of the relevant scheme members; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 19 May (WA 90), who are the "relevant scheme members" upon which the Government Actuary's Department based its estimate; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 19 May (WA 90), what would be the estimated annual financial cost of backdating to 1988 survivor pensions for civil partners in public sector schemes, calculated on the assumption given in the Women and Equality Unit consultation paper dated June 2003 that the take-up rate would only be around 10 per cent of the marriage rate.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government Actuary's Department estimates the impact of civil partnership on public service pension schemes using as far as possible the actuarial assumptions on demographic and financial factors it considers appropriate for these schemes.
	Their estimates assume that those current employees who will in due course register a partnership will have the same age profile, service lengths, mortality and future career patterns as the other members.
	GAD estimates that the cost of providing accruing survivors benefits to opposite sex spouses is £1.8 billion per annum if the propensity of opposite sex couples to marry continues at current levels for the next five years. The special assumptions relating to civil partnerships are set out in the regulatory impact assessment.
	The RIA does not include costing for backdating entitlement for civil partners: the policy of successive governments has been that improvements to pension benefits should not be made retrospectively at employer cost.
	GAD estimates that if backdating to 1988 were granted for calculating pensions for surviving civil partners of members of public service schemes the cost would be a capital addition of £125 million to the liabilities of those schemes on the high take-up assumptions in the RIA, which assumes that same-gender couples form civil partnerships at one-tenth of the rate that opposite gender couples form marriages.
	If the propensity to form civil partnerships were the same as the propensity to form marriages amongst opposite gender couples, which was the high take-up assumption in the June 2003 consultation document, the cost would be a capital addition of £1.25 billion.

World Bank and IMF

The Earl of Sandwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How United Kingdom executive directors of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund account or report to Parliament for project or programme funding and grant aid.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: In practice, decisions by executive directors in both the World Bank and IMF are rarely taken through recourse to formal voting, with the emphasis being placed instead on reaching an informal consensus; and this approach is particularly common for project and programme loans. Nevertheless, in line with the UK Government's wider commitment to transparency in international financial institutions the Government are taking action to make the positions taken by the UK at these meetings more public. HM Treasury already provides broad details of the positions taken in IMF board discussions in its annual report to Parliament on the IMF. However, such information is not currently available for the World Bank, and the Secretary of State for International Development has therefore asked officials to provide a short annual statement to Parliament on UK positions in the World Bank Board, starting with those taken in the bank's financial year 2004 (ending on 30 June 2004).

World Bank and IMF

The Earl of Sandwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How far World Bank and International Monetary Fund loans and grants are subject to formal consultation with national parliaments and civil society.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The UK has stressed that support to low-income countries must be linked to poverty reduction and we have strongly supported the development of the poverty reduction strategy (PRS) process. Poverty reduction strategies have become central to the international development agenda, setting out a clear, country-led strategy upon which donor support can be built. They set key policy priorities for low-income countries in the medium term, and make linkages to budgets and spending. This ensures that government revenue, aid, and debt relief from the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative are directed towards poverty reduction. The PRS approach has involved substantial changes in World Bank and IMF operations, with their programmes being framed by, and providing support to, these nationally led development plans.
	The basic principle of the PRS approach is national ownership, as a government will only implement policies that they believe in. The PRS therefore has to be written in country, by its government, with the full involvement of civil society, the private sector and the international community. Taken together, this should ensure that these strategies have the widest possible support in country. This participatory nature of a PRS is one of the requirements for it to be approved by the boards of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as a basis for their lending. Some governments have included participation of national parliaments as well as civil society in their PRS process. In cases such as Tanzania where the PRS has ensured a significant role for Parliament, the part it has played is considered an important investment in the country's democratic process. There can however be a tension between the sovereign right of a government to set the policy agenda in line with the constitutional procedures in place in that country, and external parties insisting on participatory policy processes.
	While we have no doubt that the PRS approach is a major step forward in the relationship between the international financial institutions and low-income countries, we recognise that the process is still at a relatively early stage of implementation and may require further improvements in its design and application. We therefore look forward to the results due later this year of the reviews of the PRS process by the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office and the World Bank's Operations Evaluations Department. The UK will play a full part in discussions on these issues and will continue to monitor the practice of the IMF and World Bank to ensure their guidelines are effective and also adhered to in practice. The UK Government are committed to maximising country ownership of PRSs and ensuring that World Bank and IMF programmes are fully aligned behind them.

Birthweight Data

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the incidence of live births of babies weighing less than 2,500 grams in the United Kingdom in 2002 and 2003, and whether they have comparable information for other member states of the European Union and Norway.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, to Lord Morris of Manchester, dated 25 June 2004.
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the incidence of live births of babies weighing less than 2,500 grams was in the United Kingdom in 2002 and 2003, and whether they have comparable information for other member states of the European Union and Norway. [HL 3272]
	The latest available figures are for 2002.
	In 2002 there were 51,015 live births with a birthweight of less than 2,500 grams, representing 7.6% of all live births where a birthweight was stated.
	Birthweight data is not published for all member states of the European Union. The most comprehensive figures on birthweight by country are published in the OECD publication "Health at a glance: OECD indicators for 2003". The most recent figures in this publication are for 2000. The table shows figures for Norway and for those European Union countries which supplied data to OECD.
	
		Percentage of births weighing less than 2,500 grams—EU member states and Norway, 2000 (unless stated)
		
			  
			 Country Percentage of births 
			 Austria 6.3 
			 Belgium 1 6.6 
			 Czech Republic 5.8 
			 Denmark 5.9 
			 Finland 4.3 
			 France 6.4 
			 Germany 2 6.5 
			 Greece 8.1 
			 Hungary 8.4 
			 Ireland 4.8 
			 Italy 1 6.0 
			 Luxembourg 2 6.8 
			 Netherlands 2 4.7 
			 Poland 5.7 
			 Slovak Republic 6.7 
			 Spain 6.5 
			 Sweden 4.2 
			 United Kingdom 7.6 
			 Norway 5.0 
		
	
	1 Figures relate to 1995.
	2 Figures relate to 1999.
	Member states which did not provide data to the OECD are:
	Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia.

Birthweight Data

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What the annual incidence of low birth weight babies since 1950 in the United Kingdom.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, to Lord Morris of Manchester, dated 25 June 2004.
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the annual incidence of low birthweight babies has been since 1950 in the United Kingdom. (HL3273)
	Figures on birthweight are only available since 1953 for any part of the United Kingdom. The latest available figures are for 2002. For England and Wales, figures are available for all years from 1953. For Scotland and Northern Ireland figures were first available in 1978 and 1982 respectively. The attached table shows the available information.
	
		Incidence of low birthweight by year; 1953 to 2002
		
			  Number of live births with low birthweight 1  
			 Year of birth United Kingdom Great Britain England & Wales Scotland NorthernIreland % of birthswith lowbirthweight 2 
			 1953 – – 45,465 – – 6.6 
			 1954 – – 46,018 – – 6.9 
			 1955 – – 46,132 – – 6.9 
			 1956 – – 47,512 – – 6.8 
			 1957 – – 50,168 – – 7.0 
			 1958 – – 50,742 – – 6.8 
			 1959 – – 50,310 – – 6.7 
			 1960 – – 52,633 – – 6.7 
			 1961 – – 54,632 – – 6.7 
			 1962 – – 55,999 – – 6.7 
			 1963 – – 56,172 – – 6.6 
			 1964 – – 55,852 – – 6.4 
			 1965 – – 54,743 – – 6.4 
			 1966 – – 55,205 – – 6.5 
			 1967 – – 53,804 – – 6.5 
			 1968 – – 54,180 – – 6.7 
			 1969 – – 53,406 – – 6.7 
			 1970 – – 53,514 – – 6.8 
			 1971 – – 49,886 – – 6.4 
			 1972 – – 47,941 – – 6.6 
			 1973 – – 43,599 – – 6.5 
			 1974 – – 41,330 – – 6.5 
			 1975 – – 38,612 – – 6.4 
			 1976 – – 37,435 – – 6.4 
			 1977 – – 36,915 – – 6.5 
			 1978 – 28,309 24,320 3,989 – 6.5 
			 1979 – 32,739 28,473 4,266 – 6.7 
			 1980 – 42,619 38,359 4,260 – 6.7 
			 1981 – 43,838 39,549 4,289 – 6.5 
			 1982 45,528 44,041 39,933 4,108 1,487 6.6 
			 1983 47,663 46,285 42,089 4,196 1,378 6.6 
			 1984 48,254 46,806 42,631 4,175 1,448 6.6 
			 1985 50,430 48,994 44,664 4,330 1,436 6.7 
			 1986 51,596 50,060 45,728 4,332 1,536 6.8 
			 1987 52,140 50,863 46,529 4,334 1,277 6.8 
			 1988 – 49,987 45,681 4,306 – 6.6 
			 1989 50,317 49,067 44,978 4,089 1,250 6.7 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of live births with low birthweight 1 
			 Year of birth United Kingdom Great Britain England & Wales Scotland Northern Ireland % of births with low birthweight 
			 1990 51,704 50,372 46,055 4,317 1,332 6.7 
			 1991 52,153 50,775 46,369 4,406 1,378 6.8 
			 1992 50,417 49,154 44,831 4,323 1,263 6.7 
			 1993 50,086 48,651 44,614 4,037 1,435 6.8 
			 1994 50,634 49,325 45,169 4,156 1,309 6.9 
			 1995 50,832 51,445 47,324 4,121 1,387 7.2 
			 1996 52,480 51,104 47,187 3,917 1,376 7.2 
			 1997 53,250 51,858 47,812 4,046 1,392 7.3 
			 1998 52,849 51,478 47,510 3,968 1,371 7.4 
			 1999 52,430 51,010 47,155 3,855 1,420 7.5 
			 2000 50,737 49,424 45,727 3,697 1,313 7.5 
			 2001 50,192 48,884 45,131 3,753 1,308 7.5 
			 2002 51,015 49,670 45,957 3,713 1,345 7.6 
		
	
	1 Low birthweight is, <2501g for 1953 to 1997, <2500g from 1978 onwards.
	2 Percentage of births that are low birthweight correspond to England and Wales for 1953 to 1997, Great Britain for 1978 to 1981 and 1988 and United Kingdom for 1982 to 2002 (excl. 1988).
	Source:
	Data for 1953 to 1981 are from Table A.4.1. Birth Counts, Department of Health. Data from 1982 onwards are from ONS registration data.

Youth Sport Trust: DfES Support

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will provide details of the contractual arrangements in place, including the value of any contracts, between the Youth Sport Trust and the Department for Education and Skills and its associated agencies for each financial year since 1999–2000; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 23 March (WA 88), what is the total value of the funding from the Department for Education and Skills to the Youth Sport Trust in each financial year since 1999–2000; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 23 March (WA 88), whether an open tender process was used for the programmes which the Youth Sport Trust is contracted to deliver by the Department for Education and Skills, the Department for Culture Media and Sport and its associated agencies.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has contracted with the Youth Sport Trust (YST) under the Secretary of State's financial memorandum and management statement. The DfES is currently funding the Youth Sport Trust to:
	provide support to aspiring sports colleges and those already within the programme—this work is carried out in accordance with the programme's delivery plan;
	provide development support for academies;
	provide development support within the School Sports Partnerships programme;
	co-ordinate and contribute to the gifted and talented work strand within the national PE, school sport and club links strategy. The work is being carried out in accordance with the programme's delivery plan;
	provide development support to schools and LEAs on the department's sporting playgrounds programme.
	From April 2004, all these areas of work were brought under one financial memorandum, except for the sporting playgrounds programme which is administered through a grant.
	The Departments for Education and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport have also appointed the Youth Sport Trust to co-ordinate the United Kingdom's participation in the 2004 European Year of Education through Sport (EYES). This work is being overseen by a grant letter and the arrangements for the year are stipulated by the European Commission.
	In addition, the Youth Sport Trust is part of the Consortium (the British Association of Advisers and Lecturers in Physical Education, the Physical Education Association of the UK, Sports Coach UK and the Youth Sport Trust) which successfully tendered, via an open competition, to manage the delivery of the national PE and School Sport Professional Development programme. The total value of this contract is £18 million.
	Funding provided to the Youth Sport Trust from the DfES since the 1999–2000 financial year has been as follows:
	
		
			  Total 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
			 Sports Colleges 2,142,402 175,000 240,672 340,422 534,450 851,858  
			 School Sport Partnerships 3,925,015 – 354,200 563,700 906,115 2,101,000  
			 Academies 114,800 – 2,600 30,700 27,500 54,000  
			 Millennium Volunteers 610,000 69,500 217,500 195,000 128,000 –  
			 Commonwealth Games Education Programme 450,000 – 110,000 200,000 140,000 –  
			 Study Support 50,000 50,000 – – – –  
			 Child Care 24,000 24,000 – – – –  
			 Family Learning & School Sport Project 32,400 – – – 32,400 –  
			 Mapping Project on the Position of PE and School Sport 5,200 5,200 – – – –  
			 Inclusion Training—PE and School Sport for Young   People with SEN 26,000 – – – 26,000 –  
			 Gifted and Talented 830,000 – – 60,000 100,000 670,000  
			 CPD Contract 2,000,000 – – – – 2,000,000  
			 EYES 89,624 – – – 89,624 –  
			 Sporting Playgrounds 100,000 – – 50,000 50,000 –  
			 Total 10,399,441 – – – – –

Focus Groups

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 5 May (WA 122), whether they will provide for every government department separately the expenditure on focus groups in the years 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Figures are not held centrally for expenditure on focus groups. Government departments are responsible for recording their own expenditure on focus groups, therefore, expenditure for every government department in this area could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
	Cabinet Office expenditure on focus groups is not separately identifiable on the department's accounting system and could be identified only at disproportionate cost.

Olympic Games 2012: London Bid

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 27 May (WA 161), whether they will provide details of the £17 billion of public money which has been allocated to improve transport in London between now and 2012; and what are the budgets and timeframes for specfic Underground lines, Underground stations, railway lines, railway stations, bus based intiatives, walking and cycling initiatives.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The figure of £17 billion refers to the planned public expenditure on London transport set out in the Transport 10-year plan update Delivering Better Transport: Progress Report, published in December 2002.
	The breakdown of the spending plan is:
	
		
			  2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 Total 
			 London exc LUL 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 10.5 
			 LUL 1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 8.2 
			 £ billion (public expenditure only)   TOTAL 18.7 
		
	
	These figures refer to public expenditure only. They exclude spending on mainline railways or private sector investment in transport.
	Most of these resources will be allocated to the Mayor through the TfL transport block grant. It is up to the Mayor to use this grant to support his transport priorities in London. The remaining £2.8 billion will be allocated to London boroughs through revenue support grant.
	It is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown of the specific projects it will deliver.

Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution Report

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will respond to the report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, The Environmental Effects of Civil Aircraft in Flight, published in 2002.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The RCEP's report The Environmental Effects of Civil Aircraft in Flight was its response to the Government's 2002 consultation on the future development of air transport in the UK. The Secretary of State for Transport met the chairman of the RCEP, Sir Tom Blundell, in March 2003 to discuss the report. The report was one of over 500,000 responses to the consultation, which informed decisions on The Future of Air Transport White Paper published in December 2003.

Speed Cameras

Viscount Simon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will publish the numbers of vehicles detected by cameras for speeding offences in 2002, which were not taxed, or had no current MOT certificate, or were not covered by insurance; and
	Whether they will ensure that Safety Camera Partnerships automatically check the Driver and Vehicle Liensing Agency and the Motor Insurance Database to confirm whether a vehicle, detected by speed cameras for speeding offences, is properly taxed and covered by insurance and where necessary use this information to pursue the driver; and
	Whether the information which traffic or local authorities provide when seeking vehicle keeper data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for on-street parking or other highway infringements is used to (a) check whether the vehicle was taxed at the time; (b) check whether the vehicle was insured at the time; or (c) take action when vehicle excise duty and insurance offences appear to have been committed.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Cameras operated by Safety Camera Partnerships are used solely for the detection of excess speed at accident hotspots. They are not used to detect other driver or vehicle related offences. Consequently there is no information on the number of vehicles untaxed, with no current MOT or insurance detected by these cameras.
	We have no plans to ask Safety Camera Partnerships to check with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), or the Motor Insurance Database to confirm that vehicles detected by their cameras are properly taxed and insured. The Government introduced continuous registration on 1 January 2004, which allows the DVLA to detect and enforce vehicle excise duty (VED) offences direct from the computerised vehicle record. It is no longer necessary to observe or record a vehicle on the road in order to take action. We are looking at the possibility of enforcing the law on motor insurance in a similar way, and will make an announcement in due course.
	Local authorities normally seek information from DVLA on registered vehicle keepers in order to enforce parking offences. In return, traffic wardens and local authority parking attendants inform DVLA of suspected cases of VED evasion observed in the normal course of their duties. Moreover, 304,927 such offences were reported to DVLA in 2003–04. These reports are used to supplement the enforcement of continuous registration and allow the DVLA to pursue offenders for unpaid back duty.

Air Traffic

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will publish new documented appraisals taking into account overall forecast increase in air traffic by autumn 2004.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government have no such plans. The appraisals conducted for the air transport White Paper were based on current air traffic forecasts. The Government will keep their traffic forecasts under review and update them as necessary.